“Selma Tower, Skyhawk-Eight-One-Four-Sierra-Alpha, student-pilot solo ready for departure.”
Holding short of the airport runway, I make my departing radio call to air traffic control.
“Student-pilot solo cleared for takeoff on runway 33.”
I receive my final takeoff clearance and proceed with my takeoff procedure.
Mixture rich, full power, as my Cessna 172 rolls down the runway for my first ever solo flight. The terrain beneath me starts to shrink as I climb to my cruising altitude of 8,000 feet. Most of my training flights seem repetitive, doing the same maneuvers until I perfect them. This flight would prove different. My flight instructor isn’t next to me, and I’m alone in the cockpit. There’s a cliche in the aviation industry, “You’ll never forget your first solo flight,” and that statement couldn’t be more true. Emotions start to take over as I realize how far I’ve come from being a 4-year-old watching planes pass over our high-rise apartment in Abu Dhabi.
Growing up, my family and I moved around, city to city, country to country. Naturally, my love for flying developed early as I spent a great amount of my childhood travelling. I never really understood why my family moved around so much. I just knew that I loved hopping on a plane. The constant moving never really bothered me.
I was born and raised in the Philippines. I remember spending a great amount of my early childhood with my grandparents, until my family and I moved to Abu Dhabi. There are some days I question what my life would be like if I had just settled down in one place and experienced a “normal” childhood growing up with the same group of people. As I got older, I’ve grown grateful for the opportunity to discover different cultures and see new places early in my life. I grew resentful of moving around so much, never really settling down, although through time I realized that my parents moved around so much to find a place that held the best for my future, and my siblings.
Moving to Abu Dhabi, I thought that was it, no more moving around. I thought I’d grow up there, until around 2014 when my parents told my brother and me that we would be moving to the United States within a few years. I heard this and thought I would have at least another two or three years before a change as big as this. Little did I know I would be moving to a completely new country in less than a year.
The constant time spent flying grew my passion for aviation. In November 2024, I applied to the Aim High Flight Academy sponsored by the United States Air Force. The Aim High Flight Academy lasts three weeks at universities across the country, which gives applicants an introduction to flight training and potentially allows them to acquire a Private Pilot License. In January 2025, I received my acceptance to the program and my assignment to fly with Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala.
My departing flight to leave for the program was set for June. It would be the first time I would travel across the country alone. I loved the sense of independence it gave me, and I loved knowing that I’m living out my dream of becoming a pilot.
The program consisted of intensive flight training and ground school. We were limited to only three weeks to build up the knowledge to earn a solo flight. I knew I’d spend a great amount of time studying, but the amount of study time training demanded from me became overwhelming. Despite the heavy workload, holding a community of students around the same age as me working toward the same goal gave me a sense of comfort. Overall, the Aim High Flight Academy became one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.
As of September, I am building flight hours to meet FAA minimum requirements for a Private Pilot License. The Aim High Flight Academy gave me an insight into what I would spend the rest of my life doing. From all the acronyms and regulations to remember, to perfecting flight training maneuvers, the rigorous training challenged me enough to realize that my goals won’t come easy. In previous years, I’ve always had the comfort of knowing that I can get by and maybe even succeed by putting in minimal to average effort. Flight training made me realize that I’ll only get out what I put in.
The road to becoming a pilot is truly humbling, to say the least. I would even call it demotivating and draining at times. The early mornings spent studying and the countless amounts of rough landings; it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. These past months taught me how a simple amount of gratitude could change my mindset. I’m fortunate enough to spend my mornings 8,000 feet high, working toward a goal I’ve had from as early as I could remember. My whole life, I’ve always found myself growing discontent with the present, always looking back, or looking too far into the future. My flight training taught me to become grateful for what I have, who I have, and the opportunities I have that others may not. Beyond having the super cool party trick of flying an airplane, the lessons that stuck with me, and the connections I made in the aviation industry are arguably the most important.
